by Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY Sports

by Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY Sports

For anybody who has seen him regularly over the last season and a half, the natural reaction was, "Lincecum? Really?''

More often than not in 2012 and '13, Tim Lincecum has looked lost, bewildered, absolutely incapable of recapturing the brilliance he displayed in his two Cy Young Award-winning seasons, which feel like decades ago.

Even when he was striking out more than a batter an inning, he could seem like the worst starting pitcher in the National League, which statistically he was last season.

And then he goes out and throws a no-hitter â?? he wills his way to a no-hitter, with an unfathomable 148 pitches â?? and thoughts of glory days past and maybe even future flicker through your head.

Lincecum? Really?

He appeared to have a better chance of getting sent to the bullpen â?? or of getting shipped out of town altogether, what with his free agency approaching and the San Francisco Giants fading fast â?? than of shackling an opponent.

This is a guy who came into Saturday's 9-0 gem against the San Diego Padres with a 4-9 record earned fully on merit, accompanied by a 4.61 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP.

Granted, he had only received 12 runs of support in his last 10 starts, but Lincecum had lost nine of his last 11 decisions, with a 4.78 ERA in that stretch. He had seven quality starts in 18 appearances. The last time he'd thrown a complete game was in 2011.

There was not much evidence such a breakthrough was in the offing.

The one thing Lincecum has maintained through these turbulent last two seasons in the ability to strike batters out, and that proved a huge factor on Saturday. He registered nearly half his outs â?? 13 of 27 â?? via strikeout, including six in a row between the second and fourth innings.

But strikeouts also build up his pitch counts, as do walks, one of his chief bugaboos. There have been times when he's been so out of sync unfurling from that unique windup of his, you'd swear every batter started with a three-ball count.

Lincecum walked four Padres, but manager Bruce Bochy said he had no intention of pulling him even as the pitch count mounted, and Lincecum himself sounded ready to get past the 150-pitch mark if needed.

"I wasn't thinking it was the last out at the end of the no-hitter,'' he told reporters. "I was just running on adrenaline the last couple of innings. My mind kept wanting to go into pitching mode.''

And indeed, pitch and pitch some more he did, throwing more than anybody else during a no-hitter except for Edwin Jackson in 2010, when he completed his gem with one more pitch at 149.

Lincecum will get an extended rest with the All-Star break coming, and who knows if this game marks the beginning of a return to his old form. That's probably unlikely, but regardless, for this one night the Freak show was back on.